US3075811A

US3075811A - Concealed adjustment mechanisms for adjustable furniture

Info

Publication number: US3075811A
Application number: US78742A
Authority: US
Inventors: Carl D Brown
Original assignee: ASHBY METAL FORMING CORP
Current assignee: ASHBY METAL FORMING CORP
Priority date: 1960-12-27
Filing date: 1960-12-27
Publication date: 1963-01-29
Anticipated expiration: 1980-01-29

Description

C. D- BROWN Jan. 29, 1963 CONCEALED ADJUSTMENT MECHANISMS FOR ADJUSTABLE FURNITURE Filed Dec. 27, 1960 INVENTOR.

CARL 0. BEOW/V Arr').

Unite This invention relates to improvements in concealed adjustment mechanisms for adjustable furniture. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in concealed adjustment mechanisms for furniture items wherein the backs can be set and held at different angles.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved concealed adjustment mechanism for a furniture item wherein the back can be set and held at different angles.

It is desirable to be able to adjust the angles at which the backs of chairs, chaises longues and other furniture items can be set and held. In recognition of this fact, a number of adjusting mechanisms have been proposed for chairs, chaises longues and other furniture items. Many tates Patent Qfitice of those adjusting mechanisms have been complicated and expensive, and hence those adjusting mechanisms have been objectionable. Other adjusting mechanisms have permitted a users fingers to be pinched or cut, and hence those other mechanisms have been objectionable. The present invention obviates these objections; and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an adjusting mechanism for chairs, chaises longues and other furniture items that is simple in construction and operation and that keeps the fingers of the user from being pinched or cut.

The adjusting mechanism provided by the present invention includes an extension which is secured to a bracket that, in turn, is secured to the front and rear legs of the furniture item. That bracket can be, and usually will be, a standard part of the furniture item; and hence a special bracket will not be required. That extension projects up into a narrow gap between the two pieces of the two piece arm of the furniture item. That extension carries a pin which extends into elon ated slots and into notches in the confronting faces of the pieces of the two-piece arm. Those pieces of the two-piece arm completely enclose the pin and completely enclose the upper end of the extension; and hence it would be physically impossible for a user to get his or her fingers pinched or cut during the adjusting of the angle of the back of the furniture item. it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an extension that can be secured to a bracket which, in turn, is secured to the front and rear legs of a furniture item and that extends upwardly into the gap between the two pieces of the two-piece arm of that furniture item and that carries a pin which extends into elongated slots and into notches in the confronting faces of those pieces of that arm.

The pin which is carried by the extension secured to the bracket of the furniture item provided by the present invention has a spring fixedly secured to it. That spring urges the arm of that furniture item downwardly into a position where one of the sets of notches in the confronting faces of the pieces of that arm will accommodate and hold that pin. As a result, the adjusting mechanism provided by the present invention tends to assure full engagement between that pin and the adjacent notches. The said spring can, however, yield to permit raising of the two-piece arm for adjustment purposes.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from an examination of the drawing and accompanying description.

In the drawing and accompanying description, a pre- 3,75,811 Patented Jan, 29, 1963 ferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and described but it is to be understood that the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose of illustration only and do not limit the invention and that the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of one form of chaise longue that is made in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, on a larger scale, through one arm of the chaise longue of FIG. 1, and it is taken along the broken plane indicated by the line 2-2 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, on the scale of FIG. 2, through the arm of the chaise longue of FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 33 in FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is a partially-broken, sectional view of the chaise league of FIG. 1, and it is taken along the broken plane indicated by the line 4-4 in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral 10 generally denotes a chaise longue that is made in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention. That chaise longue has a U-shaped rear leg 12; and that rear leg has an upwardly and forwardly inclined portion at one side of the chaise longue, an upwardly and forwardly inclined portion at the other side of the chaise league, and a horizontal portion that connects the lower ends of those upwardly and forwardly inclined portions. The numeral M denotes the front legs of the chaise longue, and each of those legs is straight throughout its length. A connector 15 extends between, and interconnects While spacing apart, the bottom ends of those front legs. A U-shaped bracket 16 extends between the'upper end of one of the legs 14 and one of the forwardly and upwardly inclined portions of the U -shape'd rear leg 12. A second U-shaped bracket 16 extends between the upper end of the other front leg 14 and the other forwardly and upwardly inclined portion of the U-shaped rear leg 12. The brackets 16 are of standard and usual design; and they extend around the upper faces of theforwardly'and upwardly inclined portions of the rear leg 12, and they also have portions which engage the opposite sides of the upper ends of the front legs 14. Pivots 17 secure the ilapper ends of the front legs 14 to the U-shaped brackets The numeral 18 denotes extensions which are secured to the U-shaped brackets 16 and which extend forwardly and upwardly from those brackets. As indicated particularly by FIG. 2, the upper portions of the extensions 13 are offset laterally to dispose those upper portions closer to the center lines of the upwardly and forwardly extending portions of the rear leg 12. Pins 20 extend through openings, not shown, in the upper ends of the extensions 18, and those pins are quite sturdy. Those pins project outwardly from both faces of those extensions.

The numeral 22 denotes links which have the lower ends thereof secured to the upwardly and forwardly inclined portions of the U-shaped rear leg 12 by pivots 24. The upper ends of the links 22 are secured to U-shaped brackets 26 by pivots 28; and those brackets are secured to horizontally-directed members 3t} of the chaise longuc. Also secured to the U-shaped brackets 26 is a horizontallydirected member 29 which interconnects the two U-shaped brackets 26 while spacing them apart.

The horizontally-directed members 30 are rotatably secured to the front legs 14 of the chaise lounge by pivots 32. Brackets 34 are secured to the front ends of the horizontally-directed members 30; and those brackets rotatably support a footrest 35. That footrest can be of standard and usual design, but it will preferably be capable of being folded.

The'numeral 38-denotes the back of the chaise lounge, and that back has the form of an inverted U. The free ends of the back 38 are rotatably secured to the U-shaped brackets 26'by pivots 39; As a result, the back 38' can tiltforwardly or rearwardly relative to the U-shaped brackets 26, andthus can tilt forwardly or rearwardly relative to the horizontally-directed members 30.

The numeral 41' generally denotes the two-piece arms of the chaise lounge and each of those arms includes an outer piece. 40 and an inner piece 46. The

pieces

40 and 46 are preferably lengths of tubing that are generally square in cross section but that are rounded at their corners; Each of the pieces 40 has an elongated, horizontally-directed slot 42 therein, and each of those pieces has'notches 44 which. are contiguous with that slot. Those notches extend forwardly and upwardly relative to the slots 42. Each of the pieces 46 has an elongated, horizontally-directed slot 48 therein; and each of those pieces hasnotchesStlWhich are contiguous with that slot. Those notches extend forwardly and upwardly relative to the slots 48. The

slots

42 and 48 and the

notches

44 and 50 are formed in those facesof the

pieces

40 and 46 which confront each other. Further, the

slots

42 and 48 and the notches 44' and 50 are in register with each other;

7 The

slots

42 and 48 and

thenotches

44 and 50 are dimensioned'to'freely accommodate the pins 20 carried by the extensions 18. In the normal positions of the arms 41, a" pair ofnotches 44- and 50 will telescope down over one ofthe pins 20, and'a second pair of notches 44 and '50'will' telescope down over the other of the pins 20. At such time, the back 38, of the chaise lounge will be lockeda'gainst' rotation in the rearward direction.

The numeral 52' denotes lengths of spring wire which have the. forward ends" thereof extending through openings inthe pins 20. Those lengths of spring wire are encased within thev pieces 40, and those lengths of spring wire arebent so the rear ends thereof'press downwardly against the bottoms of thepiec'es 40. As a result, those lengths of spring wireurge the pieces 40 downwardly relative to the pins 20 and thus urge pairs of the

notches

44 and 50 down into engagement with the pins 20. However, those lengths of spring wire can yield to permit the arms 41 to-be raised upwardly until the

notches

44 and 50 are above, and out of register with, the pins 20. At this time the pins 20 will be lodged within the

slots

42 and 48, and hence the arms 41 can be moved forwardly and rearwardly relative to those pins.

As indicated particularly by FIG. 2, the confronting

facesofthe pieces

40 and 46 of the two-piece arms are immediately adjacent the opposite faces of the extensions 18.. Those extensions are thinner than the thickness of a finger ofany user of the chaise. lounge, and hence the user-of that chaise lounge 10 can not get his or her finger intothe gaps between the

pieces

40 and 46 of the arms 41. Furthermore, closures 54 are provided for the ends of: the

pieces

40 and 46 of the two-piece arms 41, and hence a user simply'can not get his or her finger into engagement with the slots 42 or 48' OI'iHtO engagement with the notches'44; and 50.

The numeral 56 denotes pivots which rotatably secure the rear ends of the two-piece arms 41 to the arms of the U-shaped back 38. The numeral 58 denotes short connectors which interconnect the forward ends of the

adjacent pieces

40 and 46 of the two-piece arms 41. The connectors 58 are dimensioned so the confronting faces of the pieces 40' and 46 are spaced apart distances which are just a little greater than the thicknesses of the extensions 18. Usually, a washer-like spacer, having a thickness just slightly greater than that of one of the extensions 18 will telescope over each connector 58 and will be interposed between the confronting faces of the

pieces

40 and 46.

' Normally, the lengths of spring wire 52 will hold pairs of

notches

44 and 50 telescoped down over the pins 20; and at such time the back 38 of the chaise lounge will be locked against rearward tilting. If the user leans back against the back 38, the forward and upward inclination of the

notches

44 and 50 will cause those notches to jam themselves even more tightly into locking relation with the pins 20. As a result, there is no possibility that even a heavy person could suddenly find the back 38 tilting rearwardly with him.

To adjust the position of the back, the user will move the arms 41 forwardly and upwardly-bendingthe lengths of spring wire 52 as he or she does so. While the

slots

42 and 48 are thus held in register with the pins 20, the back 38 can be tilted forwardly or rearwardly t0 the desired position. Thereafter, the upward and forward forces on the arms 41 can be released; and the springs 52 will again urge those arms downwardly relative to the pins '20. At such time, the pairs of

notches

44 and 50 will against telescope over the pins 20; and the back 38 will again be locked against accidental tilting.

It will be noted that the

pieces

40 and 46 are disposed on opposite sides of the extensions 18. Moreover, it will be noted that the faces of those pieces which contain the

slots

42 and 48 and the

notches

44 and 50 are immediately adjacent the opposite faces of the extensions 18. As a result, there will be only limited bending moments applied to the pins 20; and hence these pins will be capable of resisting all forces that could reasonably be applied to them. It will also be noted that the upper ends of the extensions 18' are completely concealed; and that the upper and lower edges of the gaps, in which the extensionslSare lodged, are defined by rounded corners. Consequently, the fingers of the users are completely protected against pinching or cutting. It will also be noted that the pins 20 hold the arms 41 in assembled relation with the U-shaped brackets 26 at all times, even when they permit forward and rearward movement of those arms relative to those" brackets.

Cloth, plastic or webbing will be used to fill the spaces between the arms of the back 38, between the horizontallydirected members 30, and between the sides of the foot rest 36; However, that cloth, plastic or webbing has been omitted from the drawing to facilitate a clear showing of the rest of the chaise lounge.

Whereas the drawing and accompanying description have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the form of the invention without affecting the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

I. In an article of furniture, a back that can be tilted forwardly and rearwardly, arms that are pivotally connected to the said back so that said arms can move forwardly and rearwardly as the said back is tilted forwardly and rearwardly, said arms consisting of inner pieces and outer pieces, brackets which have extensions projecting forwardly and upwardly therefrom, said brackets being secured to the legs of said article of furniture, horizontally-directed pins carried by and extending outwardly from both faces of said extensions, slots and notches in the confronting faces of said pieces of said arms, said slots and said notches freely accommodating said pins, said slots being parallel to the axes of said arms, said notches being contiguous to and inclining forwardly and upwardly relative to said slots, and elongated wire-like springs that are connected to said pins and that are disposed within some of said pieces and that normally urge said arms downwardly relative to said pins to normally telescope pairs of notches down onto said pins to normally lock said arms against rearward movement and thereby normally lock said back against rearward tilting, said springs being yieldable to permit said arms to be raised upwardly to move said notches out of register with said pins and to move said slots into register with said pins and thereby permit forward and rearward movement of said arms and of said back, said pieces of said two-piece arms being generally square in cross section but having rounded corners whereby said two-piece arms define gaps that are of uniform width but that have smoothly-rounded upper and lower edges, said pieces of said two-piece arms being spaced apart in side-by-side relation to define gaps that accommodate said extensions but that are narrower than the thickness of the users finger whereby a users finger can not enter said gaps and contact said slots, said notches or said pins, said pieces of said two-piece arms having the ends thereof closed whereby a users finger can not enter those ends and contact said slots, said notches or said pins, the forward and upward inclination of said notches causing forces which tend to tilt said back rearwardly to force said arms into tight locking engagement with said pins.

2. In an article of furniture, a back that can be tilted forwardly and rearwardly, arms that are pivotally connected to the said back so that said arms can move forwardly and rearwardly as the said back is tilted forwardly and rearwardly, said arms consisting of inner pieces and outer pieces, brackets which have extensions projecting forwardly and upwardly therefrom, pins carried by and extending outwardly from both faces of said extensions, slots and notches in the confronting faces of said pieces of said arms, said slots and said notches freely accommodating said pins, said notches being contiguous to and inclining forwardly and upwardly relative to said slots, and springs that are connected to said pins and that are disposed within some of said pieces and that normally urge said arms downwardly relative to said pins to normally telescope pairs of notches down onto said pins, said springs being yieldable to permit said arms to be raised upwardly to move said notches out of register with said pins and to move said slots into register with said pins and thereby permit forward and rearward movement of said arms and of said back, said pieces of said two-piece arms being generally square in cross section but having rounded corners whereby said two-piece arms define gaps that are of uniform width but that have smoothly-rounded upper and lower edges, the forward and upward inclination of said notches causing forces which tend to tilt said back rearwardly to force said arms into tight locking engagement with said pins.

3. In an article of furniture, a back that can be tilted forwardly and rearwardly, arms connected to the said back so that said arms can move forwardly and rearwardly as the said back is tilted forwardly and rearwardly, said arms consisting of inner pieces and outer pieces, brackets which have extensions projecting forwardly and upwardly therefrom, pins carried by and extending outwardly from both faces of said extensions, slots and notches in the confronting faces of said pieces of said arms, said slots and said notches freely accommodating said pins, said notches being contiguous to and inclining forwardly and upwardly relative to said slots, and springs that are connected to said pins and that are disposed within some of said pieces and that normally urge said arms downwardly relative to said pins to normally telescope pairs of notches down onto said pins, said pieces of said two-piece arms being generally square in cross section, said pieces of said two-piece arms being spaced apart in side-by-side relation to define gaps that accommodate said extensions but that are narrower than the thickness of a users finger.

4. In an article of furniture, a back that can be tilted forwardly and rearwardly, arms connected to the said back so that said arms can move forwardly and rearwardly as the said back is tilted forwardly and rearwardly, said arms consisting of inner pieces and outer pieces, brackets which have extensions projecting forwardly and upwardly therefrom, pins carried by and extending outwardly from both faces of said extensions, slots and notches in the confronting faces of said pieces of said arms, said slots and said notches freely accommodating said pins, said notches being contiguous to and inclining forwardly and upwardly relative to said slots, and springs that are connected to said pins and that are disposed within some of said pieces and that norm-ally urge said arms downwardly relative to said pins to normally telescope pairs of notches down onto said pins, said pieces of said two-piece arms being generally square in cross section but having round corners, said pieces of said twopiece arms being spaced apart to define gaps that accommodate said extensions but that are narrower than the thickness of a users finger, said pieces of said two-piece arms having the ends thereof closed.

5. In an article of furniture, a back that can be tilted forwardly and rearwardly, arms connected to the said back so that said arms can move forwardly and rearwardly and rearwardly as the said back is tilted forwardly and rearwardly, said arms consisting of inner pieces and outer pieces, brackets, pin carried by said brackets, slots and notches in the inner faces of some of said pieces, said slots and said notches freely accommodating said pins, said notches and said pins being engageable to lock said arms and said back against movement, said slots and said pins being registrable to permit movement of said arms and of said back, said pieces of said two-piece arms being generally square in cross section, said pieces of said two-piece arms being spaced apart in side-by-side relation to define gaps that accommodate said extensions but that are narrower than the thickness of a users finger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 338,038 Coen Mar. 16, 1886 2,847,060 Pearlstine Aug. 12, 1958 2,887,150 Thomas May 19, 1959 2,949,155 Panicci Aug. 16, 1960 2,964,097 Moore Dec. 13, 1960 2,972,373 Thomas Feb. 21, 1961

Claims

5. IN AN ARTICLE OF FURNITURE, A BACK THAT CAN BE TILTED FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY, ARMS CONNECTED TO THE SAID BACK SO THAT SAID ARMS CAN MOVE FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY AND REARWARDLY AS THE SAID BACK IS TILTED FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY, SAID ARMS CONSISTING OF INNER PIECES AND OUTER PIECES, BRACKETS, PIN CARRIED BY SAID BRACKETS, SLOTS AND NOTCHES IN THE INNER FACES OF SOME OF SAID PIECES, SAID SLOTS AND SAID NOTCHES FREELY ACCOMMODATING SAID PINS, SAID NOTCHES AND SAID PINS BEING ENGAGEABLE TO LOCK SAID ARMS AND SAID BACK AGAINST MOVEMENT, SAID SLOTS AND SAID PINS BEING REGISTRABLE TO PERMIT MOVEMENT OF SAID ARMS AND OF SAID BACK, SAID PIECES OF SAID TWO-PIECE ARMS BEING GENERALLY SQUARE IN CROSS SECTION, SAID PIECES OF SAID TWO-PIECE ARMS BEING SPACED APART IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION TO DEFINE GAPS THAT ACCOMMODATE SAID EXTENSIONS BUT THAT ARE NARROWER THAN THE THICKNESS OF A USER''S FINGER.